Cross-current flow fourdrinier paper making machine



Dec. 13, 1938. E. E. BERRY 2,139,874

CROSS-CURRENT FLOW FOURDRINIER PAPER MAKING MACHINE Filed Sept. 24, 19362 Sheets-Sheet 1 um NN YIIIIIA VIII I vii/71111111114 Dec. 13, 1938. E.E. BERRY 2,139,874

CROSS-CURRENT FLOW FOURDRINIER PAPER MAKING MACHINE Filed Sept. 24, 19562 Sheets-Sheet 2 il.. Q N ...up

Patented Dec. 13', 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CROSS-CURRENT FLOWFOURDB'INIEB PAPER MAKING MACHINE consin Application September 24, 1936,Serial No. 102,350

12 Claims.

It is customary on Fourdrinier paper making l machines to flow the paperstock onto the Fourdrinier wire in the direction of travel of the wireor to maintain quiescent ponds of stock on the Fourdrinier -wire fromwhich ponds the stock is deposited on the Wire. In these types ofmachines the wire is usually shaken laterally of its direction of travelto rearrange the fiber formation of the stock thereon so that all of thefibers will not be lying in the direction of travel of the Wire. Theshaking of the Fourdrinier wire is not desirable, however, since itrequires added mechanism and decreases the life of the Wire.

According to this invention stock is now oated onto the Fourdrinier wireat an angle to the d1- rection of travel of the wire so that the fibers'of the paper web being formed on the wire will not largely be in adirection parallel with the travel of the wire. The invention providesfor the maintenance of flowing ponds of stock above the Fourdrinier wireand the depositing of the stock directly from the ponds onto the wire.In one form of the invention the stock can be owed transversely of thedirection of travel of the Wire across the Wire, have its direction oftravel reversed and flowed back over the Wire. In another form of theinvention separate types of stock can be flowed transversely across thewire so as to produce paper built up from several diierent types ofstock. The invention also provides for the maintenance of the wirepassing under the ponds of stock under' the iniiuence of controlleddegrees of suction so that the white water from the stock can be drainedthrough the wire at a desired rate.

It is then an object of this invention to manufacture paper having ahigh tear strength in both directions on a Fourdrinier type machinewithout the aid of shaking mechanism.

A further object of this invention is to provide a Fourdrinier papermaking machine with a cross current stock feed so as to supply the stockbers to the Fourdrinier wire lying in a direction at an angle to thedirection of travel ofthe wire,

Another object of this invention is to provide a 10 head box for aFourdrinier type paper making machine containing a plurality of openbottomed compartments for receiving ponds of stock therein together withmeans for owing said ponds oi' stock across the Fourdrinier wiretransversely of 15 its direction of travel.

A specific object of this invention is to provide a Fourdrinier papermaking machine with a cross current stock feed disposed over the wirewhile simultaneously subjecting the under side of the 20 wire tocontrolled amounts of suction.

Other and further objects of this invention will` become apparent tothose skilled in the art from the following detailed description of theannexed sheets of drawings which disclose preferred em- 25 bodiments ofthe invention. It should be understood, however, that the illustratedembodiments are only examples of apparatus embodying the principles ofthe invention and that many other modiiications of the apparatus will beapparent 30 without departing from the teachings and scope of thisinvention.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is awfragmentary, vertical cross-sectional view of the stockreceiving end of a cross 35 current ow Fourdrinier paper making machineaccording to this invention.

Figure 2 is a broken, fragmentary top plan view of the apparatusindicated in Figure 1 with parts shown in horizontal cross-section.

Figure 3A is va fragmentary vertical cross-sectional view of the stockreceiving end of a modiiied form of cross current iiow paper makingmachine according to this invention.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, broken top plan view 45 of the apparatusillustrated in Figure 3 with parts shown in horizontal cross section.

As shown on the drawings:

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the reference numeral I0 indicates aFourdrinier forming wire of 50 the usual construction used onFourdrinier paper making machines. 'Ihe forming wire I0 is `supported ona plurality of small diameter table rolls I I rotatably mounted inbearing shells l2 extending for more than around the periphery of 65 thetable rolls II and throughout substantially the entire length of therollers. The bearing shells I2 are carried by a drain box I3 on endwallsfl4 and partition walls I5 of the box and on bars I 6 extendingtransversely across the box. The bars I6 are supported in fingers I1carried by tie rods I8 extending longitudinally through the box I3.

The end walls I4 of the drain box I3; the partition walls I5 and thetransverse bars I6 have passageways I9 extending across the tops thereofbelow the bearing shells I2. These bearing shells I2 have openings 20joining the interiors of the passageways I9 with the interiors of theshells. Water or other lubricating iluid is supplied to the passagewaysI9 and forced between the bearing shells I 2 and the table rolls I I tolubricate the rollers or, if desired, to hydraulically overbalance therollers for floating the same in their bearing shells.

'I'he bottom ends of the partition walls I5 do not extend to the bottomof the box I3 but are slotted as at 2| The slots 2I in the partitionwalls I5 receive slides 22 therein adapted to be moved up and downrelative to the partition walls I5 by means of set screws 23 threadedthrough a sloping bottom pan 24 on the bottom of the'4 drain .box I3. Inthis manner, individual compartments such as 25, 26 and 21, are formedin the drain box I3 and drainage from each compartment is controlled bythe position of the slides 22. The drain box I3 can be evacuated and thedegree of vacuum in each compartment regulated by drainage of whitewater from the compartment. In this manner, the forming wire III ismaintained under controlled degrees of suction over each of thecompartments in the drain box. It should be understood, of course, thatthe fingers I1 supporting the bars I6 are quite thin and thereforedrainage of white water into the compartments is unobstructed. At thesame time, however, the forming wire I0 is fully supported by the tablerolls which can be disposed as close together as desirable.

According to this invention a head box 3U having a back wall 3 I sidewalls 32 and bottom walls 33 extending only up to the edges of the wirel0 is disposed over the wire.

Vertical slicevplates 34 and 35 are mounted between the side walls 32 ofthe head box 30 in spaced relation from each other and from the end wall3| of the head box to deiine compartments 36 and 31 in the head box.

The slice plate 35 is provided with flanges 33 along the ends thereof.These flanges 33 are slidable vertically in tracks 39 (Figure 2) formedon saddle members 40 suspended over the top edges of the side walls 32of the head box. The saddle members 40 are slidable along the side Walls32 of the head box to move the plate 35 in horizontal directions.

The plate 35 has a top flange il adapted to have threaded therethroughadjusting screws I2 for raising and lowering the plate 35 relative tothe saddle members 40 and to the head box. The adjusting screws 42 abutthe tops of the saddle members Il and a rotation of the said screws 42will thus raise the plate relative to the saddle members or permit theplate to be lowered relative to the saddle members. The set screws canbe locked in adjusted position by means of lock nuts 43 threaded aroundthe screws 42 and abutting the top of the iiange 4I.

'I'he bottom of the slice plate 34 can bc maintained at any desireddistance from the top of the wire I0 by raising and lowering the plate.

The plate 34 is vertically slidable in a saddle member 44 in a manneridentical'with the manner in which the slide plate 35 is verticallyslidable. However, the other end of the plate 34 terminates short of theside wall 32 of the head box and is slidable in a bracket member 45(Figure 2) mounted in the head box. The slice plate 34 has a forwardlyprojecting sloping flange 46 defining a tapering passageway 41(Figure 1) beneath the bottom of the plate 34 and the top of the formingwire I0.

A stock feed pipe 41 communicates through a side wall 32 of the head box3i)` with the compartment 36 therein formed behind the plate 34. A valve48 in the pipe line 41 controls the feed of stock into the compartment.36. The stock entering into the compartment 36 flows transverselyacross the head box 30 and over the wire III where part of the stock isdeposited on the wire transversely of the direction of travel of thewire. The amount of stock deposited on the wire from the compartment 36can be regulated by controlling the size of the passageway 41 under theplate 34, the head of stock maintained in the compartment and the rateof white water drainage through the wire. The size of the passageway 41is controlled by raising or lowering the plate 34 relative to the wireI0. Stock which is not deposited on the wire in the compartment 36 flowsaround the end of the plate 34 as indicated in Figure 2 and into thecompart-` ment 31 behind the slice plate 35. The stock thus againtravels over the wire I0 transversely to the direction of travel of thewire but in a direction opposite tol the direction in which it iiows inthe compartment 36. Additional stock is thus deposited on the wire in anamount con- -trolled by the spacing of the slice plate 35 from the wirel0, the head of stock maintained in the compartment 31 and the drainageof white water through the wire. Excess stock is removed from thecompartment 31 through a stock discharge pipe or conduit 49 and theamount of discharge is controlled by a valve 50 in the conduit 439.

In this manner two flowing ponds of stock are maintained over theforming wire I0 ilowing in opposite directions transversely to thedirection of travel of the wire. The stock bers in these flowing pondsare largely disposed parallel to each other in the direction of iiow andthus have their lengths transverse of the direction of travel of thewire. As these bers are deposited on the wire, some of them will, ofcourse, be pulled around in the direction of travel of the wire whileothers will remain with their lengths transverse of the direction oftravel. in this manner a web is formed on the wire having the fibersthereof criss-crossed in desired relation to each other, therebyproducing a paper sheet having a high tear strength in both directions.The tear strengths of the paper can be controlled by the speed of flowof the stock through the compartments 36 and 31. Thus the maintenance ofrapidly iiowing ponds of stock transversely to the direction of travelof the wire will produce a paper sheet having more bers arranged withtheir lengths transversely of the travel of the wire and thus produce apaper having a high tear strength in the direction of travel of thewire. As is known, Fourdrinier formed paper generally has a higher tearstrength inthe direction transversely of the machine direction,

and even vigorous shaking of the wire cannot materially oiset thisresult on high speed machines. The cross current ilow machine of thisinvention, on the other hand, can be run at very high speeds to producepaper having higher tear strength in the machine direction thantransversely of the machine ii' desired.

'I'he size of the compartments 36 and 31 can be regulated by sliding themovable plates dening walls of these compartments relative to the headbox. Thus the compartment 31 can be made materially smaller or largerthan the conipartment 36 by merely moving the saddles v4|! along thetops of the side walls32 of the head box toward or away from-the plate34.

In Figures 3 and 4, parts identical with parts described in Figures 1and 2 have been marked with the same lreference numerals and it isevident from Figures 3 and 4 that the same drain box |3 as described inFigures 1 and 2 is used below the forming wire |0.

In Figures 3 and 4, however, a head box 60 having an end wall 6|, sideWalls 62 and bottom walls 63 extending only up to the edges of theforming wire I0 is disposed over the forming wire as indicated.

Vertical slice plates 64 and 65 are disposed in the head box 6|! andextend transversely thereacross to dene compartments 66 and 61 in thehead box. The plates 64 and 65 are slidably mounted at their ends intracks 68 formed in saddle members 69 which are suspended over the topedges of the side walls 62 of the head box. The plate 64, however,unlike the plate 34 in Figures 1 and 2, extends the full width of thehead box.

The plates 64 and 65 are raised or lowered relative to the forming wire0 by adjusting screws 16 threaded through anges 1| and 12 formedrespectively on the tops of the plates 64 and 65. The said screws 16abut the tops of the saddles 69 so that a rotation of the screws 16 inone direction will raise the plates relative to the saddles and to theforming wire while a rotation in the other direction will permit theplates to be lowered. The said screws can be locked in adjusted positionby lock nuts 13 abutting the tops of the flanges 1| and 12 of theplates.

The saddles 69 are slidable horizontally along the side walls of thehead box.

The horizontal movement of the saddle members 69 relative to the headbox can be nicely effected by providing threaded bosses 14 and 15 on theoutside portions of the saddles as indicated. An elongated bolt orthreaded rod 16 can be threaded through the bosses 14 and 15. The rod 16can be provided with a head 11 for engagement with a wrench to permitrotation of the rod.

The plate 64 can be moved horizontally relative to the head box byproviding a second threaded boss 18 on a saddle member 66 supportingthis plate. A threaded rod 19 can be threaded through the boss 18 andextend through a bearing in a bracket secured on the rear wall 6| of thehead box. The end of the rod 19 is provided with a hand wheel 8|permitting a rotation of the rod. Thus when the hand wheel 8| is rotatedthe plate 64 can be drawn toward or away from the rear wall 6| of thehead box. Likewise a rotation of the rod 16 can be eected to move theplate 65 toward and away from the plate 64.

A stock feed conduit communicates with the compartment 66 through a sidewall 62 of the housing. Flow of stock into the compartment from the feedconduit is controlled by a valve 86 in the conduit 85. The stock thusflows transversely across the compartment 66 and is partially depositedonto the forming wire I0. Excess stock can be removed through adischarge conduit 81 in communication with the compartment 66 throughthe other side wall 62 of the head box. The amount of discharge can beregulated by a valve 88 in the conduit 81.

A second stockrinlet conduit 89 communicates through the wall 62 of thehead box with the compartment 61 in the box to ow stock into thecompartment in a direction opposite to the direction of ow through thecompartment 66. The amount of stock introduced in the compartment 61canbe controlled by a valve 90 in the conduit 89.

Excess stock from the compartment 61 can be discharged through an outletconduit 9| formed through the other wall 62 of the head box. The amountof discharge can be controlled by a valve 92 in the conduit 9|.

In this manner two separate owing ponds of stock are maintained abovethe forming wire l0. TheA stock introduced into the compartment 61 canbe the same or different than the stock introduced into the compartment66. However, both ponds of stock ow in directions transverse to thedirection of travel of the forming Wire so that the bers of the stockare disposed with their lengths transverse to the direction of travel ofthe wire. The ponds of stock can be maintained at any desired depth inthe compartments 66 and 61 and can further be owed through thecompartments at any desired rate.

In this modification, therefore, a paper web can be built up on theforming wire composed of two different types of stock and having theiibers thereof lying in a desired criss-cross condition withouteffecting a shaking of the forming wire. The cross current ow thusprovides for the production of Fourdrinier webs' having high tearstrength in the machine direction since any desired proportion of thefibers composing the sheet can be made to lie transversely of themachine direction by controlling the speed of flow of the pond in thehead box.

The amount of stock deposited from each compartment onto the formingwire can be controlled by the head of stock maintained in thecompartment, the distance of the slices from the forming wire and thedegr-ee of Vacuum maintained under the forming wire beneath thesecompartments.

The apparatus is simple and can be carefully controlled Withoutdifliculty. The apparatus eliminates the necessity for shaking theforming wire thereby greatly simplifying Fourdrinier paper machines andincreasing the life of the Fourdrinier wire.

The bers deposited on the forming wire can be set in web form almostimmediately by the cornbined hydraulic pressure provided by the heads ofstock in the ponds and the vacuum under the wire at the areas of fiberdeposit. The tendency of the bers to assume the machine direction of theforming wire like logs oating downstream can be prevented to almost anydesired degree. 'Ihus the increasing of the vacuum under the wire at thestock deposit areas, the increasing of the depths of the ponds of stockabove the Wire or both will increase the white water drainage throughthe wire and set the bers into web form before they can be materiallypulled around out of transverse alignment with the wire.

The drain box arrangement makes possible a subjecting of the sheet beingformed to conf- 'tinuous vacuum from the time the stock rst contacts thewire until it has passed the last slice and the water of flotation hasbeen removed to such an extent that an actual sheet of paper has beenformed. This continuous vacuum holds the bers tightly to the wire andprevents them from being floated or swshed around on the wire by thewater of the stock either while passing through the forming area orunder the last slice. It is thus possible to obtain from 75% to 95% ofthe sheet formation back of the last slice.

The last slice can therefore be maintained very close to the wirebecause with the major part of the sheet formation occurring back ofthis the wire, it is possible to create a certain amount/ of stock owlengthwise of the wire. Thus, for example, when the second pond ofstock, such as the pond formed in compartment 31 as shown in Figures 1and 2, or compartment 61 shown in Figures 3 and 4, is maintained at alower static head than the stock in the first compartment a regulationof the size of the passageway 41 under the lip of the first slice plateby raising this slice plate off the wire will permit a flow of stockunder the slice from the first to the second pond. This ilow will permitthe fibers to assume a machine-wise direction like logs floatingdownstream.

In this manner the fibers rst deposited on the wire from the rsttransversely flowing pond will lie transversely of the wire. The next4mass of bers deposited on the first deposited layer will take place asthe'wire advances through the passageway 41 formed under the slice andlip. These fibers will lie mainly in the machine direction and aretherefore at right angles to the first deposited layer. As the wire thenadvances under the second pond where the bers are flowing transverselyacross the wire the next layer to be deposited will have the iiberslaying transversely of the machine direction.

In this manner a sheet is built up composed of outer layers having thebers lying mainly in a cross machine direction and a middle layercomposed of bers lying mainly in a machine direction. The sheet will beof unitary formation, however, since all of the bers are deposited inthe forming area of the machine.

The resulting sheet will have very high tear, bursting and tensilestrength. The continuous suction maintained under the wire in theforming area prevents the longitudinal 'flow of the fibers through thepassageway 41 from displacing the transverse fibers deposited from therst pond. Likewise the transverse ilow in the second pond will notdisplace the longitudinal fibers deposited in the passageway 41.Obviously the elongation of the lip 46 on the slice 34 will lengthen thepassageway for longitudinal flow of fibers and will increase the formingarea for the longitudinal ber formation on the sheet to increase therelative size of the middle layer. Normally, however, the desiredforming area for the middle layer can be obtained by regulating theheads of stock in the two compartments and the distance of the slice 34or 64 from the wire.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details ofconstruction may be varied through a wide range without departing fromthe principles of this invention, and I, therefore, do not purposelimiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by theprior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A Fourdrinier paper making machine comprising a forming wire, aplurality ofsmall diameter table rolls supporting the Wire along itsupper runI a drain box carrying said rolls, means for regulatingdrainage from the wire into said box, a head box having an open bottomdisposed over said forming wire, adjustable slice plates in said headbox defining with thewalls of the box chambers for ponds of stockand astock inlet and a stock outlet at the sides of the head boxcommunicating with opposite ends of said chambers whereby stock isflowed through the chambers at an angle to the direction of travel ofthe wire for deposit onto the wire.

2. A head box for Fourdrinier paper making machines comprising meansdefining a plurality of open bottomed chambers for ponds of stock, stockfeed and stock discharge conduits at opposite sides of the head boxcommunicating with opposite ends of said chambers whereby stock isflowed transversely of the chambers and adjustable slice plates formingthe front walls of said chambers.

3. A head box adapted to be disposed over the top of the forming wire ofa Fourdrinier paper making machine comprising a box having a rear wall,side walls and an open bottom portion adapted to register with theforming wire, a ilrst slice plate in said box extending from one sidewall of said box into spaced relation from the other side wall, a secondslice plate in the head box in front of said first slice plate andextending transversely across the head box, means for raisingandlowering the slice plates relative to the head box, a stock feedconduit in a side wall of the head box behind the first slice plate anda stock discharge conduit in the same side Wall of the head box ahead ofthe first slice but behind the second slice whereby stock can be flowedbehind the iirst slice around the end of said slice and back behind thevsecond slice for deposit through the open bottom of the box onto theforming wire.

li. A stock head box adapted to be disposed over the forming wire ofFourdrinier paper machines comprising a box having a rear wall, sidewalls and an open bottom portion, slice plates extending transverselyacross the head box between the side Walls thereof deiiningwith the headbox a plurality of open bottom compartments adapted to register with theforming wire, and separate stock inlet stock discharge conduitscommunicating with the compartments at opposite ends thereof on oppositesides of the forming wire to flow paper stock through the compartmentstransversely of the direction of travel of the forming wire for depositof some of the stock through the open bottom of the compartments ontothe forming Wire.

5. A cross current o-w Fourdrinier paper machine comprsing a formingwire, a plurality of vsmall diameter table rolls supporting said wire,

CTL

compartments therein, means for regulating the drainage from eachcompartment, a head box above the forming wire, a slice plate in saidhead box dening with the head box an open bottom chamber for paper stockabove the forming wire, means for sliding said slice plate horizontallyin the head box to bring the chamber in communication with one or morecompartments in the drain box, a stock inlet and a stock outletcommunicating with the chamber on opposite sides of the forming wire,means for supplying stock to the chamber through the inlet and means fordraining stock from the chamber through the outlet whereby stock flowsthrough the chamber at an angle to the direction of travel of theforming wire for deposit of some of the flowing stock through the openbottom of the box, on the wire.

6. The methodgof making paper which comprises directingk streams ofstock over successive well dened areas of a traveling forming wiretransversely of the direction of travel thereof, flowing stocklongitudinally of said wire between said successive areas and applyingsuction to the under side of said wire to cause a deposition of fibersfrom said stock with the fibers lying largely in the same direction asthe directions of ow of the respective streams of stock from whichdeposition occurs.

7. A method of making paper which comprises flowing two separate pondsof stock transversely across a traveling forming wire to deposit fiberson the wire lying mainly in a direction transversely of the direction oftravel of the wire, flowing some of the stock longitudinally on the wirefrom the. first pond -to the second pond to deposit an intermediatelayer of fibers lying mainly in the direction of travel of the wire andevacuating the under side of the wire to obtain from to 95% of the paperformation under the pond areas.

8. In a paper machine in combination a traveling forming wire, a drainbox having a plurality of small diameter table rolls supporting thewire, means for evacuating the drain box, a head box disposed over thewire having a. rear wall and side walls, a pair of adjustable slicesforming the front walls of individual compartments in said head box,alip portion on the intermediate slice for defining a passagewaythereunder and means for flowing stock transversely through thecompartments under static heads for depositing bers on the wire lyingmainly in a cross-machine direction while iiowing stock from the firstpond into the second pond under the lip of the intermediate slice todeposit an intermediate layer of fibers lying mainly in the machinedirection.

9. A Fourdrinier paper making machine comprising an elongated formingwire adapted to travel longitudinally of the machine, a head box havingan' open bottom disposed over a portion of the wire defining an openbottomed stock chamber above the wire, a stock inlet and a stock outletcommunicating with the stock chamber on opposite sides of the wire,means for supplying stock to the chamber through the inlet and means fordraining stock from the chamber through the outlet whereby stock flowsthrough the chamber at an angle to the direction of travel of the wirefor deposit of some of the flowing stock through the open bottom of thebox onto the wire.

10. A cross current iiow Fourdrinier paper making machine comprising anelongated forming wire adapted to travel longitudinally of the machine,means defining chambers for a plurality of ponds of paper stock abovesaid forming wire with the bottoms of said chambers in communicationwith the forming wire, stock inlets and stock outlets communicating withopposite ends of the chambers on opposite sides of the forming wire,means for supplying stock to the chambers through the inlets and meansfor draining stock from the chambers through the outlets for deposit ofsome of the flowing stock on the wire in a direction transversely to thedirection of travel of the wire and suction means below said wire foreffecting a forced drainage of white water from the stock deposited onthe wire.

11. A head box adaptedto be disposed over the forming wire of aFourdrinier paper making machine comprising a box having a rear wall,side walls and an open bottom portion, a plurality of slice plates insaid box defining with the box a plurality of open bottomed compartmentsfor ponds of stock, stock inlets andstock outlets at the sides of thebox communicating with opposite ends of the compartments, means forsupplying stock to the compartments through the inlets and means fordraining stock from the compartments through the outlets whereby stockflows through the compartments transversely of the direction of travelof the forming wire.

12. The method of making paper which comprises directing streams ofstock over successive well-deined areas of a traveling forming wire atan angle tothe direction of travel of the forming Wire, flowing stocklongitudinally of said wire between said successive areas, and applyingsuction to the under side of the wire to cause a deposition of fibersfrom said stock with the fibers lying largely in the same direction asthe directions of flow of the respective streams of stock from whichdeposition occurs.

EARL E. BERRY.

